Truth is I want to get Big Red to my family’s homestead by New Years Eve, so I can strip the equipment come spring and also get out camping after Christmas. But at same time, I want to savor the final drives before it’s done, getting as much use as I can out of it the final days and not hit a bump and crack it.
I was going to go to the Pine Bush 🌲 today and also to the thrift shop on Central, 👚 so I could have plenty of shirts going into the New Year, but honestly I think I should just wait to New Year, and then when I’m looking at vehicles also stop on by. I’ll catch the bus and bike 🚲 over there. I think there is one of the big Toyota dealers either across the street or down the road from the thrift shop, so I if I want to test drive or at least look at a Toyota Tacoma, I can do it there then pick up additional shirts as needed. I can also dig into my closet and find other, older shirts and just make due for the year, or if absolutely necessary, order something online. I mean buying a Tacoma would be the responsible decision, and maybe if I go to Toyota dealer first and try to get it in my mind, that’s what I want with all the geegaws 🛻 and not a basic park-department spec F-250 with eventually 35s or maybe 37s depending how severely mentally ill I become in my advanced age. Apparently you can easily get 35s under them if the internet is to be believed, and quite possibility 37s stock, though wheel rubbing can be an issue. Need a leveling kit or body lift, lol. Now I am sure my ad feeds will be full of advertisements for aceing the social security disability insurance exam, because I like big trucks with mud tires and I can not lie. And smoking grass and watching the garbage burn. 🔥 But don’t tell a liberal.
It’s kind of a raw morning, with the wind after the rain last night. ☔ It would not be a good day for doing much hiking or riding in the Pine Bush honestly if I had decided to go up there today. Instead, I’ll probably ride out to Five Rivers later today. 📚 My Hoopla books were returned, but I still have that book on raising livestock on Libby and I’ve been flipping through magazines 📖 on the Libby app. I love you can “subscribe” to magazines on Libby, and they send you push notifications when the latest Newsweek and Mother Earth News is avaliable on your phone. 📱 I actually really prefer to read on books and magazines on my phone over paper copies, you don’t have to go to the actual library, or worry about them getting wet or dirty especially up the wilderness. And you can read them in the dark. 🌃
I drove in yesterday, and everything was good, but I heard an unfamiliar rattle heading over to Walmart, 🛠️ which had me wondering if something had further broke or it was more wallowly then it was. But I slammed the passenger door tight, a bunch more rust fell off, and no more unusual rattle on the way home. The power of suggestion in my mind makes me imagine villains 👹 and things that are scary but don’t really exist. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a TikTok of a rusty Silverado breaking apart like the Toyotas of a certain vintage do, and sometimes Dodges. There is a lot of redundancy in frames, but even that at some point can be worn down. That Erie Boulevard and especially Water Street is rough on my tired old suspension on the truck. 😩 December 31st will be here, and it will be over before you know. I got extra bike tubes, lube, scrubbing pads, and toilet paper along with lots of rice and beans at Wally World because I figured it would be cheaper or more avaliable there, and it will more of a pain to get large packages or ride to Wally World on the bike, once Red is done. 🛒
I put in $30 in gas from the cheap gas station into Big Red, ⛽ snapping a picture as I realized that this would be the last fuel I would ever put into his tank. Maybe it was too much, I wanted to leave a bit of fuel in the tank come the winter so I can move it as needed, as I am leaving the solar connected to keep the batteries charged over the winter. I do need fuel for camping and a view visits to my parents and I might still drive back and forth to work, just for the memory experience enjoying Red in his last few hours. ⌛ People might be like it’s just a pickup truck – they GM cranked out more of the Silverados/Sierra 1500 then any another vehicle in 2011 – so it’s not a rare vehicle – though with the cap, the lift kit, wheels, it definately stands out and is big at nearly 9′ foot to roofline.
I am a little concern about the rain, snow and ice after expected after Christmas, ☃️ but I still think I want to camp regardless of potential hypothermia conditions, just because it will be my last chance with Red before he’s done. It’s not like I am going to be able to spend any days in the wilderness going forward until April when I take delivery of my next truck. And it won’t be another Red. Maybe it will be better but I have my doubts. 🤷♂️ Certainly you can’t go back in time. I just would like one last fire 🔥 to celebrate the closing of the year. Which honestly, when you consider the markets and when I consider the trips I did, including that extended summer vacation in Finger Lakes – 13 days leading up to Labor Day – it was a good trip. And I have Northern Michigan and Upper Peninsula to look forward to next year.